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Monday, February 28, 2011

I hate spam. Nothing irritates me more than for someone to send me something that I didn't request. Especially when it comes to penis enhancements, $1,000,000 from some African prince, or a date.

Why someone would be stupid enough to reply to an e-mail or message from some random chick claiming she wants to learn more about him is beyond me. What are you? 12?

Here's what someone had the audacity to post in my Thank, Q Community on BlogFrog:
Reply by venesaa

author of Escape Velocity
2/27/2011 9:00:46 PM

Hello.
Compliments of the day to you.
It is with sincere and profound happiness to write to you this day as i saw your profile, however am venesaa by name, how are you hope you are fine, I did saw your profile and took intersest in it, if you do not mind i will love to know you and if you are the kind of man am thinking about , please send me a mail on my private email (venesaaandrewx@live.com) included, so that i will tell you all you needs to know about me and a picture of myself.i do believe distance and colour will not be a barear between us, hoping to read from you as i wait for your mail ,thanks and God bless.

Best Regard,Miss Venesaa..

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO EMAIL ME HERE ON (venesaaandrewx@live.com) FOR MORE EXPLAINATION.

My reply to her:

Dear Venesaa,

Hello! Nice to meet you! It is with sincere and profound happiness to write back to you this day as I saw your message. I do not like spammers. I especially do not like spammers who desecrate my forum with this type of garbage. You read my profile, but if you knew anything about me at all, as you claim, then you would know that I'm married and that I hate spam. So, all I need to know about you is that I'll never hear from you again, regardless of the distance and color (noticed I spelled it correctly). Please don't hold your breath waiting on my mail. Thanks and God bless.

Best regards, Q.

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO STAY OUT OF MY FORUMS ;)

If anything, I hope Venesaa works on her spelling/grammar and finds the man she's looking to scam, I mean the man of her dreams! :)

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Thanks for those who checked out the Thank, Q Radio Show! What was intially going to be about reality TV's effect on society, turned into discussions about a 'used match', reading, oral sex, and 'raw chicken!' Trust me, it's way too much to explain. You would need to hear it for yourself.

Thanks to Falen and Lynn coming on the show and keeping me laughing for a majority of it. I hope to have them on again and soon. And if anyone else is interested in being a guest on the show, then check out my Contact link and get at me in any way you can.

TOAR and Thundercat: uncensored and live on the The Thank, Q Radio Show!

If you missed the live show, be sure to look on the right to find the podcast. You can also click here to follow the show and get reminders of future air dates.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I was going to have a lengthy blog on this, but after listening to former "Talk Soup" host, Hal Sparks, chime in, I don't think there's much left to say. Just listen:

Hal was on the money and although his peers on the set may have been hesitant to agree given their profession, he took a strong stance and didn't back off.

I used to be a small-time sports reporter for a brief time in my life. The toughest question I ever had to ask someone was, "Why do you think your team wasn't able to pull off the win?" to a crying 10th grader.

Ask that to a high school student who just lost a girls' state basketball championship and it can bring about an emotional answer if they choose to answer at all. But, put a camera in the face of someone who is mourning a death can get your sleeves whipped off a la this video!

There is no news in a tragedy other than the act itself. What could the family possibly say that I really need to hear?

"He was a good guy."

"He didn't bother anybody."

"He was a good father."

What do you expect a grieving family member to say with a microphone in his/her face? Something insightful?

The media needs to back off some times. News isn't reported any more, it's created. In an effort to make more of what was already a tragedy, the news crew got too close and got some "might-nots" put upside their heads. ("Might-nots" means might not get up, for the slang-impaired.)

Keep fooling around with raw, human emotion and before you know it, "BOOM", goes the Dynamite.

Now, I have no problem with what the mom did. In fact, I applaud it. So, why the title of the blog post? The idiot (or idiots) who reported this woman and said she was in some way mentally abusing her son.

Shut your pie hole! I'm so sick of these chumps who don't have the guts to do anything that may hurt their kid's feelings. Your child is not your friend. Let me repeat. Your child is not your friend!

Besides, every child is different. What may work for one person's child won't work for another. Now, although we don't know what efforts the mother made to truly turn her son around, we can't argue that although extreme, her desire to "bring back the shame" can be effective. It was very effective when I was growing up. Just the threat of being humiliated by my parents was enough for me to "straighten up fly right" for most of my childhood. Maybe a haircut may have been a start for this kid, but to each their own.

Why is it when someone does something of "shock value" to let their kid know they're not playing, another person has to call Child Protective Services?

People complained about the "Tiger Moms" and how they raise their kids. It's not up to us to determine if someone's culture is effective or not if there is no physical harm being done to the child. Obviously the "Tiger Moms" are very effective in what they do since China runs rings around Americans in pretty much everything except gym class. Their kids won't be asked to the prom, but the Prom King and Prom Queen will probably be working for those "Tiger Cubs" 10 years after Prom Night.

Look, it's okay to voice your opinion. That's why I blog in the first place. So, I'm not saying that a person doesn't have a right to vocally disagree with what Rhonda Holden did or what "Tiger Mom," Amy Chua, has suggested.

But, that's all you should do: vocally disagree. Without any signs of physically harming her child, I wouldn't call CPS on them any quicker than I would call CPS on one of you for taking your child's cell phone or Xbox 360 away. Sure, children can be emotionally damaged, but in order to build anything, you have to test it first. A parent should know the limits of their children's emotionally stability. You can't say that taking your kid's cell phone is any more stressful on the child than standing on the corner holding an "I'm A Dummy" sign.

Besides, isn't raising a child about preparing them for life? No one goes through life without bringing something on themselves. How we recover from it is what makes us who we are in life. Rhonda Holden may not have the means to be a stay-at-home mom. Her son may not be able to go to a nice private school. Just like the mentor said, this may just be a "cry for help."

Shouldn't we meet cries for help with assistance instead of resistance?

Sunday, February 13, 2011

I hate award shows. I truly do. The people I always think deserve to win never win. It's some sort of popularity contest or who creates the biggest story more so than who's actually the most talented (in my opinion).

Having said all of that, I felt the need to watch The Grammys tonight. Why?

A) There's no football to occupy my Sunday Night
B) Everyone else and their grandmother will be watching and tweeting, so I may as well join the fun, right?
C) I pray that Kanye West gets on stage and says, "Willow Smith's video was better than Justin Beiber's" or something.

So, check in from time-to-time this evening to see updates on what I'm seeing.

6:25 PM Central Time - On E's Red Carpet Show, Ryan Seacrest is interviewing Willow Smith and asked her to turn around and say "hello" to Miley Cyrus. Willow turns around and gives Miley a look like, "uh, isn't this interview about me?"

6:34 PM - Katy Perry shows up with her grandmother and a dress with angel wings on it. She really thinks a lot of herself to be wearing angel wings. It looks like she's carrying a pelican on her back. I have to admit though, she's not bad. All of her songs sound alike, but she's still a pretty good entertainer. Showed way too much cleavage on Sesame Street though! LOL!

6:41 PM - Rihanna busting out in a white Michelin Man dress. Nice! I wonder if she had anything under those clouds? How was she able to walk any way? Maybe she had some of Diddy's guys carrying her on their backs.

6:59 PM - Didn't Nicki Minaj wear that dress during her SNL "Bride of Blackenstein" skit last week? She looks like the Heat Miser from those claymation Christmas shows I watched as a kid. I thought she was more interested in looking like a Barbie Doll, but here she just looks like a mess.

7:04 PM - Christina, Martina, Florence, Yolanda, and Jennifer sing for 15 minutes, but I kind of enjoyed the tribute to The Queen of Soul (who has lost a lot of weight). Hopefully Aretha gets better and can be present at next year's Grammys. I'm also happy that Christina got all of the words right to her lyrics. However, she did stumble (although not over a lyric). She almost fell at the end of the segment.

7:24 PM - What's up with Lady Gaga's shoulders? Coming out of an egg is freaky enough to not have pointy shoulders. And has she basically stolen every act (and melody) from Madonna? She even had the long ponytail like Madonna did in "Vogue." For real, if you closed your eyes and listened, you would have thought it was Madonna performing. I'm now dubbing her "Magaga."

8:00 PM - They've given out two awards. No wonder they give out awards prior to the show because at the rate their going, we'll be a few days away from next year's Grammys before they're done. An hour in and two trophies?

8:05 PM - We have our first Beiber on-stage sighting! It's the first time I've heard the kid sing live. He's a talent when it comes to sing/playing music! I have to give him his props! I think he's lip-synching tonight though. The Mrs. isn't impressed at all. Are there plenty of other artists who deserve a movie before him? Definitely. But, he got a chance and he took advantage of it. Milk it, Justin. Milk America for what they give you. I can't hate on that.

8:07 PM - Usher shows how original he is with a 2011 version of Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation." My boss texted me and said that, "if it wasn't for MJ (Michael Jackson), nobody would know how to dance."

I agree 100%. I'm still waiting on someone to do something different.

8:22 PM - Lady Gaga wins an award and shows up on stage with a butt of armor. I can't explain her outfit, but imagine two tortoise shells on each cheek.

8:31 PM - Not only did Bob Dylan sound bad, he sounded badly for three minutes. Why did they leave him on stage for so long? He's so far from "there's a choice we're makin'" in "We Are The World." How does he still sell CD's?

8:47 PM - The NBC logo makes an appearance on CBS to sing "Forget You." He definitely stole that from Elton John's closet. I had no idea Fraggle Rock got down like that.

8:56 PM - Katy Perry sings from a swing. When Maxim picked her as their #1 lady in their Top 100 for 2010, I didn't quite get it. But, now I can see what they mean. She's a very cute woman. It's hard to be cute and sexy. Some of you are confused right now by that statement, so maybe I'll blog about it some day. There is a difference and some women are fortunate enough to be both.

9:04 PM - "Need You Now" is Song of The Year. It's a very good song with excellent lyrics, so I get that. I can't argue with that selection at all although I have no idea who the group is.

9:13 PM - I'm sorry, but Rihanna has a head shaped like a rattlesnake.

9:23 PM - Another repeat of Alicia Keys commercial for HP. I wonder if she stole that ad spot from another woman?

9:35 PM - Out comes Mick Jagger with his first performance at The Grammys. He looks like Angelina Jolie and a raw chicken had a kid.

9:42 PM - Funny Tweet -> @BasseyworldLive "I'm mad that Usher is 150 years younger than Mick Jagger but was out of breath after his performance. Mick looks like he could go again."

10:00 PM - Rihanna sounds like an eight year old singing karaoke. She is arguably one of the worst live performers in the game right now. Bobby Brown thinks her live singing sucks.

10:17 PM - This stuff is still on. I thought for sure I'd be watching the news and kicking back in the bed by now. Instead I'm watching these million dollar commercials for Target. Wait. Do the Grammys command that type of money for an ad spot? I doubt it. Maybe $250k. What's a Grammy anyway? Okay, I'm babbling.

10:26 PM - Last performance and I'm unsure of the group's name. They won Album of The Year over some big names, so I'm assuming they're talented. They're song isn't bad, but a little too much percussion. I think CBS did a horrible job with the sound on this broadcast. A lot of drop outs and I think they missed Eminem dropping an "F-bomb" in one of his lyrics. Weren't they the station who showed Janet's nips during the Super Bowl?

This has been fun, guys! Difficult, but fun. It's hard coming up with things to discuss and find photos at the same time. I'm still mad I couldn't find a photo of Lady Gaga's tortoise shell butt implants. I'm sure you'll see it at some point on tomorrow. This is the first awards show I've watched in its entirety in probably 25 years, so this was a big deal to me.

Catch you guys later. It's time for me to watch the local news and catch some Z's. I just hope that I don't have any nightmares of Rihanna, who I'm sure is a Visitor, screaming like a banshee while an alien-shaped Lady Gaga is chasing me with raw steaks.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Okay, okay, okay. Everyone has had plenty of time to take their shots at Michael Vick about this dog fighting thing, but when will it end? It's time to stop hating on Mike and I'll tell you why:

Because people need to be more upset about more important things in this country.

Recently, baseball player, Mark Buehrle was being interviewed about his effort to rescue a wounded dog (arrow stuck in abdomen). While discussing the noble effort, he took time to say the following about Vick:

"He had a great year and a great comeback, but there were times where we watched the game, and I know it's bad to say, but there were times where we hope he gets hurt," Buehrle told MLB.com. "Everything you've done to these dogs, something bad needs to happen to these guys."

"...hope he gets hurt?" In 2007, Vick was convicted for his role in dog fighting. Here's how Michael Vick got "hurt":

- Convicted of a felony related to a dogfighting ring and served 19 months in prison.
- Lost a $100 million dollar contract with the NFL, his starting job, his home, and two seasons of play.
- Will forever be labelled as a dog killer.

How much more hurting does he have to do before you're satisfied? Look, I love animals, especially dogs, but personally, I value human life more than animal life. I know that some people treat dogs like family and I'm okay with that to a certain extent. But some of the things I've heard coming from the mouths of dog lovers like Vick should be "put down" or "neutered" are some of the most unjustifiable things I've heard in a long time.

We're not talking about O.J. Simpson killing people or R. Kelly peeing on a 14-year old girl, but about a man who fought and killed dogs. Now, of those three, which two do you think are more serious of crimes?

Yet, I have seen many picket signs condemning Vick and many interviews of people who are absolutely disgusted about what he did to those dogs.

Then, I started thinking, "how many picket signs do I see at court houses across the country when a lady gets raped?"
"When was the last time someone came on MSNBC to talk about a man abusing his child?"

We're so numb to crimes against humans that it doesn't matter any more. "Law & Order" and "C.S.I." makes it easy for us to be nonchalant about dead bodies, I guess. Unless it's one of Michael Vick's dogs.

He did his time. Well, actually, thanks to some of you, he's still doing his time. He lost his job. He lost his money. He lost his home. He lost time with his kids. He lost his livelihood. Plenty of people have done worse and suffered less. Let it go, people. Call off the dogs, so to speak.

I have nothing against dog lovers, but let's keep things in perspective, people, okay? What Michael Vick did was wrong and I can't stress that enough. But if you want to speak out against him, then I expect you to speak out against other criminals with the same intensity!

To help you with that task, I've provided a list below of the names of NFL players arrested in 2010. I want you to sort through the DUI's, assaults, and domestic violence charges until you find a new athlete to hate on in 2011. One that has endangered the life of a human:

Monday, February 7, 2011

What lights your fire? I don't mean romantically, but emotionally. What makes you upset? What pushes your button so repeatedly that you choose to vent via speaking out, blogging, or posting on FB/Twitter?

A hot button for The Mrs. is "Zero Tolerance Rules/Laws." She believes that everything has an exception. Everything. Saying kids aren't allowed to bring weapons to school and then expelling a child for bringing a plastic knife for his lunch is an example of zero tolerance gone bad. A man who speeds in his car to get his pregnant wife to the hospital and gets a speeding citation in doing so is another example of what irks her.

You get the drift by now, right?
So, what is the one topic that is able to push the button when it comes to me? There are countless things that push me to express myself, but I've sat here and tried to think of the one thing that gets to me every time. Racism? That's a hot button, but it probably is for everyone. Sexism? Doesn't affect me as a man much, so that may be for some women. Politicians? Yeah, they get me going, but I'm "sometimey" when it comes to them, too. After all, politicians aren't the blame, it's the people who follow them blindly who are the blame.

So, I guess for me, I hate anything that doesn't involve common sense (hence the blog title): People who believe everything they hear/read and report it as fact. People who will take a week off of work to picket outside of Comedy Central about "South Park" rather than just preventing their children from watching it. People who think "individuality" comes from wearing the same name brand shoes/jeans/shirts that everyone else in the neighborhood wears.

Honorable Mention
(I wonder if black people will get upset that dude was checking out a white lady? You know how some folks can find racism in anything. Then again, I do see two or three stereotypes in this commercial that will raise flags.)

Throwing in Kenny G made it funny for me.

This will be me some day.

Richard freakin' Lewis? Are you kidding me? Nice!

Brody is the coolest man on the silver screen right now.

UNFUNNY

At what point will getting hit in the nuts be considered "old?"

This was more disturbing for me than funny. Just plain nasty.

I was borderline on this one, but I still had to thumb it down.

When were Go Daddy commercials ever funny? And Danica Patrick looks like a 12-year old boy who needs a haircut.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Okay, so I rolled out to Dallas to participate in the SB XLV festivities, right? I had no idea the weather was as bad as it was because it almost made it impossible to drive any where within the Dallas area.

So, I missed a chance at Tashard Choice's party and maybe T.O.'s (if I would have decided to pony up the big bucks for it). Luckily, my brother and I were able to at least make it to the NFL Experience which wound up being one of the best events I've ever attended. I wanted to share some photos of it with you all!

The current NFL leading rusher, Texans RB, Arian Foster: First time I've seen him without a helmet, so it took forever to figure out who he was.

Future Hall of Famer, Falcons TE, Tony Gonzalez: Last I heard, women have him as the 3rd prettiest man on TV behind Prince and Rick Fox.

Former Bucs LB and current ESPN First Take "Analyst", Derrick Brooks: Despite the fact that I insult him for his lack of insight on ESPN, he was very nice and answered tons of questions about the 3-4 defense in his seminar.

Skins DE, Brian Orakpo: the former Texas grad was posing for photos with a Cowboys fan? Traitor!

"With the first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys select..."

Road to the Super Bowl: this theater showed a 20 minute film on how the Packers and Steelers made their way to SB XLV.

NFL Total Access: Fran Charles, Kurt Warner and crew had a live broadcast from the Dallas Convention Center.

Outside of the NFL Experience: check out all of the ice and slush all over the place. Dallas got four inches of snow the night before (on top of the two inches of ice they already had).

So, as you can see, I've been tied up for a bit, but hopefully I can get back to blogging soon. I have a few stories to share about Southerners driving in bad weather...

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

No, I'm not talking about Falen's "Hall Pass" post. I'm talking about people giving others a free pass just because they are biased.

Free Pass #1: R. Kelly
Robert, who I think is part Native American (native name is Flowing Stream), has been accused three times of child molestation and/or porn. Well, let's just call it what it is: it's rape. Molestation is a word someone made up to "pretty up" an act of rape. R married the late Aaliyah when she was 15 years old (Vibe Magazine showed the marriage certificate and the marriage was eventually annulled because of her age). He was also allegedly in a video where he sexed a teen and peed on her. The 21 counts of child porn were later dropped because the (well-paid) Chicago family didn't want to press charges. This happened a month after he was charged with 12 counts of child porn in Florida (which were also thrown out for search/seizure reasons).

Where there's smoke, there's fire. Three times he's been accused (one proven) of child rape. Yet, he opens for the B.E.T. Awards and Twitter goes wild with "R did it big tonight" tweets.

If you're willing to put down your morals for a child rapist just because you like his music, then I'd like to see you try to justify it in the comments section below.

If R. Kelly was an everyday John Doe who worked at the gas station down the street who peed on a 14-year old girl, you'd be the first person to volunteer to be on the jury to send him to jail. But since he can sing and you have the "12 Play" album, then let him slide. After all, "she knew what she was doing," right?

It's easy to sweep crimes under the rug when a woman is the victim.

Free Pass #2: Charlie Sheen
I wouldn't come down so hard this dude if he only hurt himself, but he has endangered the lives of others more than once. This coke head doesn't hide who he is. He's put more up his nose than an elephant locked in a peanut factory. No matter how close he gets to killing himself annually, more people watch his show and CBS gives him a raise to buy more dope/hookers.

Even Keith Richards thinks he should slow down on the partying. Yet, every week, "Two and A Half Men" is high in the television ratings. Why? Because he makes us laugh, it's okay for him to threaten his wife, scare hookers with his behavior, and get so many rides to the E.R. that his 10th ambulance trip is free.

Charlie Sheen will probably outlive all of us, but time-after-time, he apologizes for his behavior, thanks his fans and CBS for their support, and checks into a spa resort... uh, I mean "rehab." Months later he'll be found unconscious in a hotel room with a Jagermeister I.V. in his arm.

What does that say about us as a country? What does that say about you as a person? As long as a person is talented, then it's okay, right?

R. Kelly can pee on my daughter any time since he's my favorite singer, right?

I'd love to live next door to Charlie Sheen's wild parties because he makes me laugh, right?

Sure, it's cool to forgive and give second chances to people we don't even know, but giving someone a third and fourth chance shows that it's not just something wrong with them... it's something wrong with you.